noun
stem
CEFR B1
(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
In a sentence
Six example sentences with stem, each labelled with its topic.
The search engine strips endings down to the stem so that running, ran, and runs all match the same entry.
Technology
Latin teachers drill the stem of each verb, because every tense a student later meets is built onto it.
Literature
Children learn a stem long before its endings, saying jump for every tense until grammar catches up with them.
Psychology
Medical students memorize the Greek stem for heart, so cardiology, cardiac, and myocardium all unlock at once.
Medicine
Linguists rebuilt the stem of a word no one has spoken for four thousand years by comparing its living descendants.
Science
Once you know a Turkish verb's stem, the endings the phrasebook lists for past, future, and polite request snap into place.
Travel
Study stem until you keep it
Learn English words in sentences about topics you pick, with a quick quiz. With an account, words come back for review.
Found in these word lists
Found in 7 published word lists
- New General Service List (Browne et al. 2013)Authoritative
- General Service List (West 1953, Bauman/Culligan rev.)Authoritative
- Israeli Psychometric English dictionary (Campus IL / NITE)Authoritative
- Science Vocabulary ListAuthoritative
- Magoosh GRE 1000Recognized
- 5000 GRE Words (widely used study list)Recognized
- GRE Word List 4700 (widely used study list)Recognized
Each source is a published word list that contains stem. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.